South Dakota And The Black Hills

South Dakota

The roads are well maintained in both North and South Dakota.  Welcome to the Black Hills in the south west corner of the state.

Spearfish Canyon near Deadwood

We stopped in Deadwood which takes you back to a gold rush town with numerous gambling establishments. The town has been rebuilt to look like the 1800 with enactments of guns fights on main street.  Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane are buried in Boot Hill Cemetery (Mount Moriah Cemetery).

Kevin Costner has spent time in this area and tried to build a hotel to bring people to the area.  His dream did not happen but instead he created  Tanaka: Story of the Bison.  This museum has live presentations that shares information about the local Locota people and their life with the Bison.  Make sure that you visit the sculpture out side depicting a Buffalo Jump.

From Deadwood we drove highway 85 heading to Custer City before going to our cabin in Custer State Park.  This was a relaxing drive where you pass several lakes.  The area has a lot of camping and cabins both private and forestry services.




Crazy Horse Memorial is a mountain that is being sculpted to show that the Lokota people have great heros.  It was started June 3, 1948 and is still being worked on and will not be completed for many years.  The project is only funded with private donations and money made at the visitors centre.  When visiting the memorial you can learn about the indigeniour poeple in the Indian Museum of North America. The artist studio gives you some insight into the construction of the Memorial.

Crazy Horse Model

Custer State Park
This is a wonderful park that you can experience a variety of geological formations and natural areas to enjoy. There are several beautiful drives in the park.

Road through the rocks.

The Needle

Jewel Cave
Is a national park that is extensive cave system that has not been totally explored. There are several guided tours that you can take. You enter the cave by an elevator which takes you down several floors so that you can explore some of the large cave areas.











Mammoth Site  located in Hotspring SD is the largest in situ (bones left as found) mammoth dig site. The site has a building covering what was a sink hole when the Colombian and Wolley Mammoths got trapped in the pond and died.  The have currently found the remains of 61 Mammoth by counting the number of tusks they have found in the 25 feet that have been excavated.  They believe that there may be 65 feet in the pit that has not been uncovered.





Mount Rushmore
(George Washington, Theodore Roosenfelt, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln)

Devils Tower

Devils Tower

Devils Tower in Wyoming is the northern outer edge of what the park service considers the Black Hills.

This land mark was used in the movie Close Encounters of the third kind. This was the 40 anniversary of the film.

South Dakota is a great area to visit. There are lots of opportunities for hiking, exploring different rock formations and don't forget the badlands park.









Custer State Park Buffalo Roundup

Located in the Black Hills in South Dakota. This park is know for the buffalo roundup held in late September. Every year the calfs and female plains buffalo are roundered up to check on their health. Shots are administered and the calfs are branded. The area can only support about 1000 buffalo so the heard is culled at this time. Buffalo are autioned off later in the year and this provideds an income source for the park.

People from all over the world come to witness the buffalo roundup. People wanting to watch the roundup are to be at one of two specific viewing sites prior to 9 am.  This means you are on the road early to ensure that you get to the site and park on time. This event is well organized and can handle the large crowds. They have large tents set up to serve breakfast and sell memorbilia. They also being in a lot of pot a potties.

North Dakota September 2017

You can cross the boarder from Saskatchewan at several point into North Dakota.  We choose to drive highway 85 south and stayed overnight in Dickinson ND.  This town offers a lot of choice and services.  Mendora is much smaller and looks like a frontier town with false front buildings.

North Dakota

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

This area is where Roosevelt came to ND after graduating.  He was a conservationist and wanted to protect the natural resources.  He returned to the east and married his wife.  She died in childbirth and his mother died the same day in the same house.  At 25 years of age he went back to North Dakota and established Elkhorn Ranch north of Mendora to work raising long horn cattle and recover before returning to politics.

North Theodore Roosevelt National Park

The park is divided into two sections.  The North Unit has a road that goes into the park and you can see how the little Missouri river has shaped the land.  You can drive through the park to the lookout at the end of the road.

painted canyou

Painted Canyon is  a quick stop off of the interstate 95. It is a great place to be introduced to Theodore Roosevelt National Park and if you are lucky you might even see a Buffalo/Bison.

South Theodore Roosevelt Nathional Park

The South Unit is located north of Mendora ND.  There is a loop road through the park that allows you to experience the area and if you are lucky you will see wildlife.  We saw a coyote, american bison, and deer  There are several hikes both long and short waiting to be tackled the park.  You can camp in the south unit and there is a picnic area.



We stayed in Dickinson and there are a lot of services in the town.  We had car problems and end up leaving our car at the Ford Dealership for them to repair while we continued on our trip to South Dakota.

After leaving Dickinson we traveled south along highway 385 through North Dakota.  This road is quiet remote with limited traffic compared to the State Highway.  There is a small sign on the highway when you cross into South Dakota.